Commerce levies antidumping duties in steel wire rod case

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Commerce has determined that Belarus, Russia and the United Arab Emirates have been dumping carbon- and alloy-steel wire rod in the U.S. and will be subject to elevated duties.

Commerce's decision disregarded arguments from the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, which testified at a Nov. 16 hearing that Grade 1080 and higher steel wire rod — which is used to make steel reinforcing wire for tires — should be excluded from any duties.

Domestic steel wire rod suppliers cannot meet the volume and quality needs of the U.S. tire manufacturing industry, Tracey Norberg, USTMA senior vice president and general counsel, testified at a May 24 hearing.

The potential impact of Commerce's decision is yet to be quantified.

Commerce did, however, exempt several other product categories from the duties.

The final antidumping margin found for Belarus was 280.02 percent as a Belarus-wide entity, the agency said in its Nov. 21 determination.

For Russia, the margins were 756.93 percent for Abinsk Electric Steel Works Ltd. and JSC NLMK-Ural, and 436.8 percent for all others.

For the UAE, the margin was 84.1 percent for Emirates Steel Industries PJSC and for all others, the agency said.

The duties for Russia are being enforced retroactively 90 days, to Sept. 5, because Commerce said it also found that "critical circumstances" exist with respect to all Russian exporters/producers.

In announcing the duties, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, "The United States is dedicated to free, fair, and reciprocal trade with these countries, and this case was decided strictly on a full and fair assessment of the facts. The Department of Commerce is committed to protecting U.S. companies being hurt by foreign manufacturers that refuse to play fair."

Four U.S. steel makers — Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc., Nucor Corp., Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc. and Charter Manufacturing Co. Inc. (Charter Steel) — petitioned the International Trade Commission March 28, claiming that carbon and alloy steel-wire imports were causing them material injury.

Besides Belarus, Russia and the UAE, the countries the steel makers cited were Italy, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Ukraine.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) made a preliminary determination of material injury Oct. 2, and held a hearing Nov. 16 allowing both advocates and opponents of the antidumping duties to testify.

With these final determinations, Commerce has instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to start collecting antidumping duties from these producers.

Commerce said that Belarus, Russia and the UAE exported 145,842 metric tons of the steel rod types under investigation, with an estimated value of $49.7 million.

The ITC is scheduled to vote on a final determination of material injury Jan. 5. Commerce decided to extend its consideration of steel wire rod imports from South Africa and Ukraine until Jan. 8, and there may be a further extension, according to an agency spokesman.

Determinations on the remaining five countries is scheduled for March 15, he said.